Catherine Cadière, or Marie-Catherine Cadière, (12 November 1709 in Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

, year of death unknown), was an alleged French witch. The trial of Catherine Cadiére in 1731 is one of the most famous of its kind in French history, and have been referred to many times in literature, notably in the pornographic novel Thérèse Philosophe

Thérèse Philosophe

Thérèse Philosophe is a 1748 French novel ascribed to Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens. It has been chiefly regarded as a pornographic novel, which accounts for its massive sales in 18th-century France...

.

Background

Catherine Cadiére was born to a merchant, whose health was ruined by the plague in 1720, and lived under the guardianship of her mother and brothers. She was interested in mysticism and religion, and became deeply influenced by the Jesuit Jean-Baptiste Girard, whom she met in 1728. She was encouraged to the belief that she suffered from holy convulsions and saintly stigmatics and spiritual visions by Girard, who presented it to be the symptoms of a saint. He visited her often, and possibly abused her sexually. Her emotional state during these experiences was described as hysterical.

Trial

In June 1730, Girard was investigated for abuse and corruption, and she was placed in a convent

Convent

A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...

. She was released in September 1730. The case was transferred to the court of Aix-en-Provence

Aix-en-Provence

Aix , or Aix-en-Provence to distinguish it from other cities built over hot springs, is a city-commune in southern France, some north of Marseille. It is in the region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur, in the département of Bouches-du-Rhône, of which it is a subprefecture. The population of Aix is...

. Catherine was first placed in a convent in Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 and was then take to a convent in Aix for the trial. She was defended by Chaudon. The case drew an enormous attention form the whole of France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and Catherine was supported by parliamentarias, noblewomen, and the public in Toulon

Toulon

Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....

 and Aix. The case was seen as a case against the order of the Jesuits, and Catherine was seen as a symbol of the corruption of the Jesuits.

Verdict

On 11 September 1731, Catherine Cadiére was sentenced to death. On 10 October 1731, she was declared innocent. Her acquittal and release was greeted with great rejoice from the public. She was turned over to her mother, who was to remove her to prevent chaos, so that civil order could be restored. However, the fate of Catherine Cadiére after this is unknown, and considered to be mysterious.